Un Histoire d'Amour
by bdjc
Summary: In an alternate universe, Adrien Agreste is a supermodel playboy, billionaire, philanthropist. Marinette is a baker's daughter, and a determined future fashion designer. These two however have a similar hobby, moonlighting as Paris's superheroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Love square switched around! Marichat! Adrinette! Aged up! T because of mature themes.
1. Un

**Hello all! I'm not known to write outside of the Teen Titans fanfiction, but I looked around for a story like the one I'm going to be writing, but couldn't find any so I thought to myself, well might as well do it myself. As you read from the summary (with the little Avengers line), this story is going to be a little different from the normal Miraculous Ladybug Adrien we're used to. Naturally, this will cause a slight shift in Marinette's character. As mentioned, this is my first MLB fanfic, and though I do have an ongoing Teen Titans flinx story, I am not known to update as frequently. Please don't forget to leave a review or favorite this story if you want more! Now enough about the torture you might endure, let's get on with the story!**

Marinette could not believe her luck. She felt a shiver of disgust run through her body as the loud and _wet_ kissing noises continued. Looking to her left, her kwami, Tikki was peering through some dusty books at her lycée's library. Marinette narrowed her blue bell eyes at the tiny goddess. A feminine moan made her gag. Tikki side glanced her and rolled her large purple eyes but continued to search for the item she was so desperate to find.

Suffering under enough agony, Marinette angrily whispered, "Tikki! I've had enough of this! Let's leave now before I throw up last night's dinner."

Tikki turned to her chosen, folding her tiny arms across her chest. "I need that book, Marinette! If it's the book I think it is, then it could be the key to stopping Hawkmoth."

Marinette huffed under her expectant stare.

After a moment, Marinette caved.

" _Fine_. I'll do it." Nodding her head with approval, Tikki flew back into Marinette's open purse

The dark haired girl got off the hard carpet and got closer to the sound of her revulsion. In a secluded part of the library sat Adrien Agreste with the body of a girl straddling him. Marinette had briefly seen the girl this morning, but knew enough from the rumors circulating in school that she was Lila, a new transfer student from Italy.

Marinette cleared her throat in an attempt to pull them apart, but found their lips still attached. Moving her bangs in th slightest she cleared her throat louder.

" _AHEM_."

Adrien seemed to snap out of his daze, but Lila took that opportunity to move down to her neck.

"Oh, hey _ma princesse_ , what brings you here? Care to join?" Lila got up from her place on his neck when he slightly jostled her. Father would neuter him if he showed up to a shoot with a hickey. Again. The Italian girl glared intensely at Marinette, annoyed at her audacity to interrupt them.

Marinette did not back down from his teasing, instead quipped back with, "Sorry I'm not into girls."

"What are you doing here then?" Lila got up from Adrien's lap. She stared down, trying to use her height to intimidate her.

"Adrien borrowed a book from me and I'd like it back before he has to leave."

The blonde boy muttered a curse after quickly checking the time on his phone.

"Merde! Here Mari, just take what you need I have to go to fencing!"

Marinette let out a _humph_ as Adrien close to threw his heavy book bag at her, running in the direction of the boys locker room. Great. She was left with Adrien's leftovers to deal with. She went over to the table to close the old weathered book that she came for when Lila began to grab her stuff from the table also.

"'Mari' was it?" Lila leaned against the counter.

"Uh, actually it's Marinette. Sorry about Adrien, he's. . . yeah,"

Lila nodded and gave her a one over. Whoever this girl was, she was important to the boy she was sucking faces with.

"So, are you his girlfriend?" The minute Adrien saw the girl he called her two nicknames and hit on her, so she had a couple questions.

"Mon dieu, no. Adrien, he's an absolute flirt and player, he doesn't do relationships and stuff."

"He seems to like you though," her tone was all condescending, finding it hard to believe the boy had no interest in her. As they were walking into the library, he caught sight of Marinette and he lost track of where he was going and bumped into a column. She had to be lying. No guy would walk into a wall after looking at a girl unless he was head over heels for her.

Long after Marinette left, Lila couldn't stop herself from this dark feeling from opening in her chest.

"This book better be what you thought it was Tikki. I interrupted Adrien when he was busy with another girl," she groaned into the cat pillow she hugged, "he's not going to let me hear the end of it."

Tikki was flipping through the pages of the Miraculous index. "I'm sorry you had to witness your boyfriend sucking faces with yet _another_ girl, but hey! It is the book I thought it was, so there's our win!"

Marinette rolled her eyes, spinning on the chair in front of her desk. "He's not my boyfriend, Tikki."

As Tikki searched through the aging pages, Marinette looked around her room. There were photos of her designs, her with friends, lots with her family, and most of all, of _him_. She let out a lovestruck sigh. His piercing green eyes, the messy blonde locks on top of his head. His jawline that must've been carved by the gods themselves. Despite this, Marinette's attraction for the cat themed superhero of Paris wasn't fully physical. She knew he was a gentleman at heart, always making sure to check in with civilians after the attacks. He made sure they got home safely and weren't going to relapse. He was sweet and chivalrous, always making sure to take the hardest of hits so she would be protected. Chat Noir was a selfless man, he was her beloved partner, and the first person that could believe she could succeed when she first became Ladybug.

Tikki looked to her chosen to see her swooning over her desktop screen. It was a photo of Chat Noir and Ladybug that a fan, probably Alya, had captured. The two were on top of the Eiffel Tower, Ladybug leaning on his shoulder. She giggled. Marinette would have a kick when she found out who was under the mask.

"Did you say something?" The half French, half Asian girl was brought out of her daze at the sound.

"I said we need to show this to Master Fu," Tikki said as she closed the book.

Adrien groaned. His fencing instructor was not happy after he came late with orange lipstick smudged all across his lips and neck. The boys had whistled, but soon those whistles were silenced as the instructor made them do _conditioning_.

He was in an ice bath at the school, everyone already dragging themselves out to go home. He had a few minutes to spare before Nathalie dragged him home, so he decided to enjoy his few moments of solemnity.

"Adrien, what the fuck!"

Adrien rolled his eyes at Plagg's annoyed tone.

"What did I do now?" Green eyes met the tiny God. Plagg had his arms crossed, his tiny foot tapping the imaginary ground as he floated in front of his chosen.

"Where's the book that we took from your Father's study? I told you it was important, I can't find it anywhere!"

Adrien scratched his head. So many things had happened earlier that day, it must've slipped his mind completely. As he got out of the icy bath, he muttered his apologies at losing it and that maybe Marinette had accidentally taken it.

 _Ah_ , Marinette. The one girl that didn't swoon to his good looks, his supermodel job, or even his father's empire. Sure it was cliché. Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist wanted the only girl that didn't want him. It was straight out of rom com trash, but he couldn't help what he was or how he felt! Adrien couldn't help how he acted, girls surrounded him, gave him what he wanted, who was he to be rude and deny them? Besides, after his mother had disappeared he started to hang around Chloe and the other rich socialites of Paris, and well you can see where it got him. His father had doubts of Adrien having _fun time_ with girls, but it only accentuated his career. More women were interested to look at Paris' most eligible bachelor.

Plagg rolled his big green eyes, "Maybe next time you'll start thinking with your other head. You know, the one on top of your neck!"

As he was about to retort a smart comeback, his phone rang.

"Ah, princess, have you decided to take me up on the offer?"

Marinette blushed as Master Fu looked confused. "No, Adrien, I think I took the wrong book from you."

Adrien nodded his head and put the call on speaker phone for Plagg to hear.

"Is it an old looking book? I-ah, if it is, that's my father's inspiration book for his designs."

Marinette and Master Fu shared a look. "I can give it back to you tomorrow if you'd like. I think it was either Alya or Nino that borrowed my history book."

Adrien furrowed his brows, "Oh yeah, that's fine then princess, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

Marinette muttered a quick bye before hanging up. Tikki and Wayzz had stopped flying and chasing each other around after the revelation of who had possession of the book.

Marinette didn't know how to feel. It made sense in so many ways, but it didn't at the same time. How would Gabriel know about the Miraculous, what did he want from Ladybug and Chat Noir. She couldn't risk attacking him without even knowing if he was indeed Hawkmoth.

All four in the room felt a wave of discomfort, and they knew.

"Trouble."

Volpina had to be by far the toughest akuma Ladybug and Chat Noir had fought. Ladybug had cursed when she realized that Volpina had talked about a girl had ruined her chances with a boy she liked and headed towards her parents' bakery. At realizing where she was going, Chat had fought the akuma harder than he normally would. Ladybug had to claim that she knew a shorter way just to get there before the two.

A second after she got into her room, she heard a hard knock on her trap door. Quickly ripping all of her Chat pictures of the wall and powering down her computer, she ran to the bathroom turning the shower on.

"Uh, come in!"

Chat jumped down, avoiding landing on her bed with his shoes. He noted that the room hadn't changed much, save for the tiny Chat Noir and Ladybug plush on her bed.

"P-Marinette?" He quickly descended down, looking around for Marinette or Volpina.

The door to her bathroom opened and Chat blushed. "Yes?"

Marinette was only in a fluffy pink towel, her hair dry. "I-I uh, was about to take a sh-shower, did you need anything?"

Chat scratched the back of his neck nervously, the blush peeking out from under his mask.

"Sorry to interrupt, but there's an akuma after you. Ladybug was supposed to get here before I did,"

Marinette paled, immediately speaking up, "M-Maybe she caught up with the akuma and they're fighting right now."

And that was when the day went to full shit for Marinette.

Volpina bursted through the trap door, looking around for Marinette. Chat immediately stood in front of her. She raised her flute, creating tons of Marinettes, and the real Marinette took this as her chance. She jumped into the gaggle of her dopplegangers, climing behind her couch, quickly transforming while Chat was preoccupied with the Marinettes. Ladybug had swung her yoyo at the fake Marinettes, making them disappear in an orange cloud.

Volpina laughed however as she grabbed the last Marinette, dragging her out the trap door.

Although the battle was long and strenuous, Paris' heroes had defeated Volpina. Chat, however, had been so on edge. When Volpina threatened to drop Marinette from the Eiffel tower, he let out a strangled cry, almost taking off his ring. Ladybug hit the Marinette with her yoyo, making that illusion disappear. She had never seen him so broken, so willing to give up his Miraculous. Even after defeating Volpina, Chat took off in the direction of her parent's bakery.

She took the shortcut and landed into the window of her bathroom, turning the shower on again.

"P-Marinette!" Chat called out into the empty bedroom.

Ladybug cleared her throat from inside the bathroom. "In here Chat, I'm taking a shower."

Chat approached the bathroom door, clearing his throat. He furrowed his brows.

"How'd you get away? I was sure that the akuma had grabbed you."

Ladybug paled, her earrings beeping softly.

"I-I, uh, I ran through all the fakes and hid under my vanity."

Chat looked to the side and saw a vanity set that he didn't even notice. He was sure he would've seen her crawl there if she had-

"Thank you, Chat for checking on me. D-Don't tell Ladybug, b-but you're my favorite hero."

Marinette spoke barely above a whisper, but he heard it loud and clear. His heart skipped a beat and he opened his mouth only to find it dry. The girl that sat behind him in class, who wasn't fazed by his looks, status, or money was. . . just. . . amazing. She took his breath away with her confidence and her need to protect everyone, not to mention her beautiful blue eyes and dark hair.

"Thank you, I, I think I'm going to go now." Chat moved closer to the door. He placed his forehead and hand lightly on the door.

Ladybug behind the door was about to answer but caught herself, instead placing her forehead and hand on the door.

Soon after, Chat looked one last time at the door and ran out her window.

Ladybug counted after he left and she stepped out.

 **Not sure about this ending, but here you go! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!**


	2. Deux

**I had about five hundred words of the next chapter before my fingers slipped and effectively went to the previous page. Great. :)**

 **Anyways, hello! Thank you so much for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! I cannot believe how much support this story has in the first day it was released! Another thing, below is the link to the artwork that was the whole inspiration behind this story! If any of you know who the art belongs to please PM me!**

 **With that said, onto the show!**

* * *

Soft feminine giggles filled the blond boys' ears. His green eyes were shut, a content look on his face at the sensations of numerous lips on his neck. Adrien knew where he was and it was his favorite place. Hands began to tug at his clothing, his blazer, his tie.

And then she came.

All the other giggles ceased as her melodious laugh shunned their chortles. It had to be one of the most beautiful sounds he'd ever head.

" _Ma princesse_. . ."

He purred as he could smell vanilla, sugar, and all things sweet come closer to him. His green eyes opened, half-lidded at the sight of the girl in front of him.

She had a _rouge_ red lipstick covering her delicate lips. Black eyeliner and mascara accentuated the pop of blue in her slanted eyes. The red cheongsam she had on, (weird, but Adrien decided to go with it) hugged her slim figure nicely. It was lined with black and green eyes followed the lines down.

" _Like what you see_?"

Marinette pulled him closer to her by his tie, pressing her body tight against his. Adrien groaned at the contact, his body immediately reacting to hers. His hands gripped her hips eliciting a gasp from her. It was like she was a dip in the pool after a long hot day. He was pulled down to level, blue and green irises meeting.

Soft lips touched the side of his mouth making the blond grunt. Such a tease. He felt her slowly pull away, a victorious smirk crossing her fair features.

The giggles and hands from before were back as he looked to try and grab onto the girl he held.

" _Mari. . ."_

The morning white heat of his room annoyed him. Adrien's green eyes darted back and forth, taking in the sounds coming from the TV screen below.

"It seems that our favorite playboy supermodel has cut ties with Alice Martin, yet 'another model working under Gabriel! How will this affect the spring line that the two were supposedly staring in?! Our own inside sources confirm that yes, the two will still work together, but what happened between them? Will this affect the line? Will the young Agreste have another meltdown? Well, that's all for today-"

Adrien groaned loudly. "Turn that shit off Plagg! You know I hate hearing the gossip about me!"

Plagg smirked at the tone of his chosen. His little body was sprawled on top of the duvet with a roll of camembert by his side. He loved to anger Adrien up after being woken up from him calling for his princess for the umpteenth time.

"Did I interrupt your beauty sleep, prince charming?" Plagg flew up to where Adrien laid, grabbing a pillow, "You kept calling for your princess waking _me_ from _mine_!"

Adrien blinked when the pillow hit his face.

It was currently 7 am and he had plenty of time before school started. As the blond picked himself up from his sheets, he stretched his long arms and let a yawn out. It was Friday and normally, teens his age would be ecstatic, but Adrien felt annoyed. He hated Fridays because that would mean the weekend. Weekend meant no school and no school meant no Marinette for him to tease, flirt with, or-

"You're doing it again." Plagg poked at the French boy's cheek. Adrien swatted him away from his face.

"Doing what?"

"Making that face. You're thinking of your girlfriend, aren't you kid?" Adrien scoffed and rolled his eyes once more at the tiny god.

He got off the bed and began fixing the sheets and spoke, "She's not my girlfriend, Plagg. She's-"

"Your _princess_. I know," Plagg flew into Adrien's hair, lying flat on his fluffy locks. "You know, she'll never know how you feel unless you tell her up front."

Adrien made his way down the stairs towards his connecting bathroom.

"Aren't I doing more than enough, Plagg? I mean, you can't say I'm not trying here," Adrien stressed to his kwami. Although it was true that Adrien flirted with Marinette any chance he had, it didn't seem genuine. The blond would hit on the girl more than enough times either could count, but Marinette blew off any of his advances, dismissing it as him being a flirt.

"Maybe you should, I don't know ask her on an actual date?" In the modern bathroom, Plagg looked at himself in the mirror, still on his chosen's head. Adrien stuck a tooth brush in his mouth, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Give the girl a break. She sees you as a, what did the lady on the TV say?" Adrien brushed his teeth harder, rolling his eyes, "a supermodel playboy? You aren't exactly helping yourself by flirting with her and hooking up with other rich kids."

The blond boy spit the paste out. The god of destruction had a point there.

* * *

Marinette was having the best morning so far. She had woken up before her alarms, rather than after the tirade to wake her. Tikki was even surprised at the luck her chosen had. Marinette was able to eat breakfast with her parents, a rare treat. The morning was beautiful, the birds chirping, the smell of fresh flowers and grass. She approached the school seeing Alya and Nino standing together, giggling in their surprise.

"Marinette? Here? _Before_ school starts?"

Marinette elbowed Alya who laughed. The trio made small conversation, talking about upcoming projects and such. Nino had his arm draped around his girlfriends' shoulders. The two had been together since Ladybug locked them in a cage after a date with Marinette at the zoo. They were in collège at that time, now all of them were about to finish their junior year in lycée. Marinette smiled at the thought. They were ideal for each other, no doubt about it.

"Princess, were you thinking of me?" A heavy weight descended on the small girls' shoulders and she groaned at the voice.

Shrugging his arm off of her, Marinette looked up to meet his gaze.

"Adrien, what have I said about touching me?" Adrien smirked cheekily at her irritated expression. The morning light made it so the freckles on the bridge of her nose stood out more. He grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips.

"Only that I should do it more often," Marinette took her hand out of his, using her index finger to push him away by the tip of his nose.

"No, only that you should never do it."

Alya and Nino smiled each other, knowingly. Adrien didn't need to tell them that he had quite the crush on their friend, they knew. Hell, the whole school knew that Adrien had a thing for Marinette the moment he saw her.

Nino nodded his head to Adrien, steering Alya towards the school. Marinette narrowed her eyes at this and made a move to follow them but was stopped by Adrien.

"Mari, wait!" He grabbed for her hand again, stepping in front of her.

"I, uh," Marinette raised a brow, "I wanted to ask you something."

Adrien felt star struck for a moment. Her eyes in person were even bluer than in his dreams and he felt like he could drown in the color.

"Well? What is it Adrien?" Marinette didn't have a tone to her voice. Despite his flirting, he was still her friend above all. Adrien exhaled, calming himself.

"Will you go out with me?"

Marinette's eyes widened. "L-like on a date?"

Adrien blushed, his neck and cheeks turning red. Pink began to dust her cheeks and the bridge of her nose as well. Marinette had been asked out before, but not in person, or up front. This was a first. He nodded his head vigorously,

"I-uh, I-I," the dark haired girl clammed up. Even though Marinette didn't have feelings for Adrien, she didn't deny he was _fine_. The boy was a supermodel for Pete's sake! The current situation they were in didn't do the poor girl a favor either, the morning light highlighting his jawline, cute nose, and deep green eyes.

She thanked all her lucky stars when the chimes of the school bell sounded.

"I-I gotta go, see you Adrien!"

Marinette ran away from Adrien at a record speed.

* * *

For someone that moonlighted as a masked hero, avoiding a teenage boy proved to be a feat. After her record speed breaking run to class, Marinette had somehow forgotten Adrien was in the same class as her. And sat in front of her. Her head hurt and her heart raced from the unexpected cardio.

Adrien came in a couple moments after her, immediately locking eyes with her.

Marinette flushed and quickly averted her eyes from his intense green. As Adrien quickly made his way to his seat, Alya and Marinette put their history books up.

"Sooo, what happened with you and Prince Charming back there?" Marinette glared at the redhead next to her.

"You and Nino knew he was going to ask me on a date?!"

Alya's eyes widened comically, and she excitedly squealed, "Really? No! We didn't know he was THAT brave!"

Marinette crouched further behind the textbook, "Whatever, I don't think he was being serious, when has Adrien ever showed real interest in me?"

Alya face palmed. Her friend had to be the definition of oblivious.

Adrien sat in his chair, trying his hardest to hear what the girls behind him were going on about. Nino glanced over at his friend, smiling at the flush on his face.

"Sooo, how'd it go with you and Princess over there?"

Adrien grew redder at the mention of his crush. He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck, "I-uh, might've asked her out?"

Nino widened his eyes at that, "Woah, dude. That's-that's"

"A stupid thing to do, I know," Adrien groaned, crossing his arms on the table and hiding his face in them.

"I take it she said no?" Nino pried. Blond locks shook left and right. Nino clapped his shoulder.

"Then she said yeah?" Blond locks shook left and right again.

Adrien got up from his forearms, leaning on his right hand.

"Dude, I've never seen Marinette run so fast, even when there were akumas attacking the school!"

Nino hissed, rubbing his friend's shoulder comfortingly.

"It had to have been my bad luck, as soon as I asked her the bell rang and-" Adrien dejectedly looked to his right. Ever since receiving his miraculous, anything that seemed remotely _too_ ironic to be true, he attributed it to Chat Noir's bad luck. Plagg had confirmed this to be true, and that all his chats had the shorter stick whenever it came to luck. Something about losing a bet to Trixx.

Adrien sighed again. Whatever the matter, if Marinette had some sort of feelings for him other than pure annoyance, she'd have at least had the decency to tell him up front that she didn't see him in that light. Somehow his incessant flirting wasn't working in his favor. Today was going to be a long, awkwardly painful day.

In order to wallow in self-pity, Adrien felt like he deserved something sweet. He doubted that with all his exercising and moonlighting as Chat Noir that eating something sweet would make him double in size like Nathalie and Father thought. Sure it couldn't help with the Marinette sized hole in his heart, but Andre had always been willing to give Adrien his location. He'd said that the Agrestes had a special place in his heart, with Gabriel proposing to Emilie after getting ice cream at his stand.

"Bonjour, Andre," Adrien waved to his old friend. Apparently, the current secret location of his ice cream stand was conveniently at the park in front of their lycee.

"Bonjour, Adrien! How have you been?! Have you grown a head taller?"

Adrien chuckled good heartedly, but Nino and Andre could tell something was wrong.

Nino introduced himself to Andre. As the man made their ice creams, he carefully chose their flavors.

"Do you wish to tell me what is wrong?" Andre handed Adrien his ice cream.

Adrien wanted to scream.

The flavors, as if mocking him, made the blond narrow his eyes. There was a strawberry scoop, pink, Marinette' favorite color, blue, like her eyes, and a dark blue, like her hair.

"He's having some. . . girl trouble," Nino offered. He was handed his ice cream as well, a mix of reds and oranges.

"Oh, my dear boy. Would you like some advice?"

Adrien sighed, visibly troubled.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, Andre-"

"My ice cream is magical and will show you your true love! See, dark hair, beautiful blue eyes, and her favorite color, pink!"

Adrien frowned deeply and handed Andre back the ice cream.

"Sorry Andre, I'm not sure about her being my true love, or her even liking me to begin with."

Andre took the ice cream, shaking his head, "No, you see-"

"Sorry Andre," Adrien cut him off, "I don't think there is such thing as love."

Andre looked like he had his world ripped from him. The boy in front of him refused to meet his eyes, knowing what look he had in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but your ice cream is just…that, ice cream."

Adrien made a quick exit, leaving Nino to comfort the ice cream man. The brown skinned teen gave the man money for both his and Adrien's ice cream and quickly ran after the blond boy.

The ice cream in Andre's hand began to melt as a glowing purple butterfly mask took over his features.

Nino and Alya, bless their conniving hearts, had taken it upon themselves to bring their friends together. After what happened at Andre's Nino had immediately texted Alya to tell her the details and what they could do to help their heartbroken friend.

Marinette might not know it _yet_ , but she did have feelings for Adrien. Even if they were repressed under her annoyance at his flirting and joking. This was the reasoning Alya told herself when she purposely spilled hoisin sauce on her shirt, completely missing her chicken banh mi. She excused herself, playing the bashful, embarrassed girl well.

Marinette made a move to follow her friend from the bench outside the school, but saw her friend nowhere in sight. Weird. Marinette shrugged it off, but turned to a person on her right yelling in surprise.

From what she could see, Nino had made his way quickly towards the school, clutching a piece of his shirt. Adrien looked over to her, and immediately looked away, flushed.

The dark haired girl narrowed her eyes. Her ever prying, never could keep her own nose on her face-

 _You can't keep glaring at him. Say something._

Her pink phone next to her on the bench lit up.

Alya rolled her eyes at her best friends' stubbornness.

 _He's still your friend, you know._

Guilt gnawed at her. Damn, she was good. Alya had a valid point. All other feelings they might harbor for each other including annoyance, irritation, infuriation, and any other synonym for annoying. . . she still cared for him, as a friend. This little crush- no, this _thing_ \- shouldn't get in the way of that.

Mustering the courage and grace she carried against the fiercest akumas, Marinette gathered her things and started the direction of the seated blonde.

Adrien, not that he would admit to it, had been eyeing the girl the whole time. Imagine his surprise and anxiety at seeing her coming in his direction. She was coming closer now-,

Only to be stopped by a booming voice.

"Hello! How about some ice cream?!"

Adrien turned, a four story ice cream snow man towering over him.

Curse his nine lives.

"Adrien Agreste, I have been looking for you!" Marinette froze in her tracks to see the giant ice cream hand aimed at the blonde a few feet from her.

"Is this the girl that has broken your heart, oh little one?" Glaciator aimed the fist now at Marinette, feigning shock. She was in shock alright, but not because of the akuma.

"Don't you worry Adrien, I'll make sure she loves you!"

Adrien's eyes widened in panic and out of pure instinct, he dove towards Marinette and in the split second they were airborne, Adrien flipped their positions using himself as a cushion for Marinette's fall.

Not wasting any time, Marinette grabbed Adrien, roughly hauling him to his feet and breaking into a sprint. They dodged the rapid fire ice cream scoops and took cover behind the water fountain.

"We need a plan to get out of here!" Marinette looked over to Glaciator who was looking around the park, trying to locate the two.

Adrien narrowed his eyes, remembering what happened the last time the two of them were together.

"It shouldn't be that hard for you to get away." He slumped against the fountain, childishly crossing his arms and refusing to look at her.

Marinette blinked. She looked over to the blond. He had the audacity to bring up their earlier squabble when they had a situation they needed to attend to!

"Are you being serious right now! We need a way to get out of here and I don't see you trying to help!"

Adrien rolled his eyes and turned his attention to a few people still at the park. Andre had frozen a child and a couple other people that were fleeing. Marinette caught where his attention had gone and watched with adept attention.

An elderly couple sat on a bench cowering in fear as the ice cream man aimed at them. He lowered his arm and continued on his search.

Marinette and Adrien shared a look. Tikki poked Marinette's hip as a reminder to get a move on.

Sighing, she said, "I'm sorry about earlier Adrien, but you caught me off guard!"

He patiently waited for her to explain herself. "You've never really shown you've had true interest in me, I mean how was I sure that you were being genuine."

Adrien nodded. For the sake of the akuma, and for his own heart, he decided to hold onto her words for later.

Wordlessly, he wrapped his arm around her waist, causing her to yelp in surprise. Glaciator turned at the noise to see Marinette and Adrien sharing a (fake) loving smile at each other. He allowed them to get up and walk out of the park.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir had no problem taking Glaciator down. To Ladybug's delight, she and Chat Noir had to pretend to be a couple while fighting the four story

It was after the victory of Paris's heroes did Adrien find himself outside of the Dupain-Cheng household.

Marinette burst through the front door, looking quite adorable in her pink and white polka dot matching pajamas.

"Oh. Hi Adrien," she crossed her arms over her chest awkwardly, "what are you doing here?"

Scratching the nape of his neck sheepishly, he stuttered out, "I-um, I wanted to apologize for today. I was being rude to you after I asked you- you, and I guess I'm sorry about that too."

Sorry, sorry for what?

"I guess, I guess you can just forget I said anything at all."

Marinette felt everything in her freeze. She didn't know how to respond to him, or even why she was so speechless.

Adrien took her silence as a confirmation to what he said.

"I-uh, guess, I'll see you around then."

The blond tugged one corner of his lips as a small smile. Even though he felt a little broken inside.

* * *

 **I know, I know. It's been a while, at least I think so. I did say that there would be irregular updates, and I'm sorry about that.**

 **Another thing I'm sorry about is that I don't like to write akuma fight scenes. I mean, we all know that they took down Glaciator, and for the most part, taking him down was practically the same as the actual battle. I'm a horrible writer, and I'm sorry for any mistakes, but I hope you guys like this chapter and felt all the feelings I did!**


	3. Trois

**Hello there! I am overwhelmed by the amount of favorites and follows of this new story, and its's nice to see people that are interested!**

 **As for the small amount of people that do leave a review, thanks! And, one reviewer in specific talked about the fanfiction, Selfless on AO3, just to let you know, I love that fic! I'm an inconsistent updater, so by the time you read this, it's probably been weeks since my last update.**

 **I was going to have this episode have Nino be the bubbler, but I decided; fuck it. I don't even like writing akuma scenes, and I'm pretty sure you guys will get tired of reading a one sentence about the battle so, I give angst instead. Be prepared lovelies.**

 **Also, if anyone could tell me where I can watch new episodes of MLB online that doesn't give my computer viruses, that'd be great.**

 **Enough rambling, and on with the show.**

* * *

Contrary to belief (and to her own), she did feel something shift in her and Adrien's friendship after her downright rejection to his offer to go on a date with him.

At first, it was subtle.

Adrien was already notorious for flaking out on hangouts, but that was only when he had a genuine reason. Like, Nathalie telling him about a last minute shoot, or an impromptu trip to a fashion capital. He made it a point when he started school to be able to hang out with his friends outside of school.

However, following with what Alya dubbed as, _the rejection_ , Adrien flaked out on all their group hangouts, or anything that had Marinette involved. He hung out with Nino, whenever it was just the two of them, but when it came to group hangouts as a whole, he used a lame excuse about a gig.

Since he was the son of Paris's fashion king, all eyes were on him. It was in this predicament that Alya shared the news of where Adrien really was when he flaked on their group hangout to the movies.

"He's back with her?" The couple and Marinette sat in comfy movie chair seats. Marinette happily munched on the buttery popcorn, tearing her eyes away from the explosions on the screen to look at Alya.

Her whole face was illuminated by the brightness of her phone, and it was obvious that whatever she was looking at was upsetting her. The redhead turned the phone to her best friend, gaging for her reaction.

 ** _Is Alice Martin, Adrien Agreste's Only True Love?_**

Under the headlines was a photo of Adrien in a long white trench coat, dark sunglasses, and his arm outstretched to the tall blonde trailing behind him in jeans and a rumpled shirt.

Marinette squinted seeing the familiar black shirt with colored stripes across her bust. Unashamed, she snatched the phone from Alya's hands, scrolling down.

 _The two were seen this morning escaping from Le Grand Paris, where his childhood friend, and the daughter of Paris' mayor, Chloe Bourgeois resides in. She's covered mainly by Agreste (such a gentleman!)_

Marinette rolled her eyes but continued.

 _Martin is spotted wearing a trendy pair of ripped boyfriend jeans and a shirt that belongs to Adrien Agreste! It seems sudden, but it also fits in with Adrien's reputation as the bad boy of France! Is he hanging up the title for another model? When asked, Agreste made no comment on if their relationship status, but when asked Alice seemed content with a dazzling smiled across her face._

Frowning, Marinette handed Alya back her phone and crossed her arms across her chest. Alya smirked and elbowed Nino who was on her other side. He knew well enough about what Adrien was (attempting) to do to forget about his rejection from Marinette.

Marinette was upset to say the least. Here he was, back to his old ways only about a week and a half when she initially rejected him and he was caught with another supermodel escaping a hotel, half disheveled. What was she supposed to think when he was caught in scandals like these since he was fifteen? Marinette only knew this fact because she had the biggest crush on our supermodel. He was the son of her favorite fashion model, _and_ her age. She liked to daydream about the two of them and had numerous pictures of him from Gabriel's lines pinned in her room.

Of course, finding out that he was going to be attending her school had made the girl ecstatic, but she was sorely disappointed.

He flirted with everyone. All the girls, and even their homeroom teacher, Madame Bustier!

She decided after his first week of school and him flirting with anything that had a cute face that her little crush was superficial and ended those feelings then and there.

Marinette huffed, taking a fistful of buttery popcorn and munching on it. Alice was pretty with her short black hair and long legs. He should be happy with her.

Next to her, Nino and Alya sighed, knowing the meaningful look on their friends' face.

"It is going to be lit as FUCK!" Nino exclaimed, walking with Adrien into their homeroom. Adrien laughed at his friends' joy.

Most of the kids in homeroom were taking their seats, and so was Marinette, Adrien noticed. She usually came in late, ready with an excuse for Madame Bustier even though her house was about a minute away from the school.

"Hey everybody! Party at Adrien's house tonight!" Nino whooped and the everyone else did as well. "Booze is a requirement, and bring your bathing suits! Or don't," Nino winked to Alya, who rolled her eyes with a knowing smile.

Even though the party was Nino's idea, and for his birthday, Adrien insisted they have it at his place. The Agreste mansion was built for huge parties, and practically a palace to everyone at school. There was a pool, a hot tub, and just about seventeen rooms vacant. He told Nino that his father's study, room, as well as Adrien's bed was absolutely off limits.

The blond teen was excited, and so ready to have another raving party. His father was out in Italy for some fashion business to attend to, and the Gorilla decided to join him after Adrien convinced him.

As the two teens took their seats, Adrien had a knowing smirk cross his features.

"I can take Alice to your party right?" he darted his eyes to see Marinette's reaction, "She's been on my ass about meeting my friends for some reason."

Alya visibly scowled, but Marinette looked bored, fiddling with her eraser.

Nino took note of his quick side eye before giving a nonchalant, "For sure, bro."

Spinning around, Adrien had the devil in his eyes. "What about you Marinette? Are you bringing someone tonight?"

There was a fire in her eyes at the challenge he presented. Marinette knew her cheeks were starting to turn pink, but at the sight of Juleka's brother, Luka, Marinette smirked. Tearing her eyes away from Adrien, she grabbed Luka's elbow before he could walk to his little sister's seat to give her her textbook that he accidentally took.

"Luka," Marinette said, looking at him through her lashes.

He smiled at her, nothing like the stupid smirk Adrien always had on his pretty face.

"Would you wanna come with me to a party tonight? After we go out to that ice cream place you wanted to take me to?"

Adrien felt his heart stop and his blood boil. Since when were they a thing?

Luka smiled and flipped his blue tipped hair to the side and flashed Marinette an even wider grin. "Sure, 'Nette. I'll stop by around six, is that good with you?"

Marinette smiled dreamily at him, her chin on the palm of her hand, "Yeah, that'd be nice Luka."

Adrien turned away scowling and hurt by the whole ordeal. He had set himself up unknowingly and was dealing with the consequences.

True to his word, Luka pulled in front of Marinette's house on his motorcycle at six pm sharp. Marinette looked cute in her light blue swing dress, her hair down and in curls. Her makeup nothing more than mascara, eyeliner and some shimmery lip gloss.

Luka popped the visor off his helmet, offering her a smaller helmet. "Ready?"

Marinette accepted the helmet, and sat behind him, her arms wrapped around his torso.

* * *

At Adrien's house, he, Alice, and Nino were getting stuff set up. The beer pong table was in full view of the pool and hot tub in the model's backyard. Food was close by and as was the table of drinks.

Despite Nino's protest, Adrien rented a DJ so his friend could enjoy his party. Of course, he told Nino he could take over whenever he wanted to, but had to party as well.

As people began showing up to his home, Adrien was getting uncomfortable and began pulling at his open tropical button down shirt.

Alya had shown up, but no Marinette with her. Of course, he knew about her plans with Luka, but some part of him hoped that she just blew him off.

Alice was going on about model drama that went on but his mind took him elsewhere. He was itching to see Marinette despite the ordeal that happened earlier on in the day. The thought of her and Luka together crossed his mind and he scowled. He and Alice had taken to sitting in the backyard, where there was a futon as they watched people trickle in.

He felt hurt that she had a thing with Luka and he somehow didn't know about it. Above his feelings, they were somewhat friends. He hoped that he had established well enough that he wanted to be friends, but he groaned that maybe his horrible social cues weren't good enough.

The teasing and flirting were just his personality, but now that Adrien really thought about it, did Marinette even consider him as an actual friend?

Excusing himself from Alice, he left her in search of Alya, who he hoped would help him out.

Not even an hour into the party, Nino had taken over the DJ booth and that left Alya to dance with some people on the dance floor.

Approaching Rose, Juleka, and Alya, he ushered the redhead to the side.

"Do you know where Marinette is?"

Alya crossed her arms and looked up at the model. "How do you know she's not here already?"

Adrien rolled his eyes and snapped his attention to where Alya turned her attention to.

Through the masses, he saw Marinette standing on her own by the backyard kitchen. He started his way toward her, the light blue dress she wore complimented her dark hair.

Marinette was oblivious to the tall model that was on his way to her and was started when he said,

"Hi."

Marinette looked up at him in surprise.

"Oh. Hi."

Adrien leaned behind the marble counter so the two of them could be at the same level. He could tell Marinette was starting to feel uncomfortable so he cleared his throat.

"So. Luka, huh?"

Marinette turned to him, finally looking at him in the eyes.

"Yeah, why?" Marinette crossed her arms at him now. Deny it as much as she wants, she was looking forward to his reaction regarding the situation with her and Luka.

Adrien peered over at her through hooded eyes. "Nothing really. Instead of running away from me when I asked you, you could've said that you were already dating someone."

Marinette felt her stomach flip. It was so like him to attack a problem and for her to run from it. Panicking, she composed herself enough to say, "Yeah, I-uh, you kinda just- it just came out of nowhere, you caught me off guard."

Adrien was still staring at her, and she managed to stare at him as well. There was a tug in her heart when she stared back at him, as if something was gone or missing. The blond felt it as well, the tugging in his heart, but with much more force than she did. His presented his feelings to her in all the ways that he knew, but. . . Adrien concluded that it wasn't enough. That _he_ wasn't enough for her.

"Oh hey babe," the two snapped out of their trances to see the blonde woman in front of them, "I was looking for you."

Alice handed Adrien a cup of punch, and Marinette coughed uncomfortably. The blonde girl turned her wavy head towards her and smiled.

"Hi. I'm Alice," she stuck her hand out, "you're Marinette right?"

Marinette nodded her head and offered her hand and a small smile.

"It's really nice to meet you, I know you're a really good friend of Adrien's."

Marinette felt a pin of guilt for thinking that she was just another girl that Adrien fooled around with.

After some conversation and getting to know Alice, Marinette was left alone with her thoughts. Luka approached her with her drink in his hand, noting her down expression after the two blonds left.

"So. Are you going to tell him?"

Marinette took the drink and thought of lying, or denying to Luka but decided against it.

"I don't really know Luka. It's not like I'm in love with him," she looked out towards the party. "I like someone else. Maybe even love them." Her mind drifted to Chat and she felt her heart throb thinking of his carefree smirk and his crazy laugh.

"Adrien is just. . . Adrien. He doesn't actually like me, Luka. He's just messing with me because I don't like him for his looks or his money or-"

"So what do you like him for?" Luka slipped in quickly.

"I like him for how well I know him. It's just, I feel like I truly know everything about hi-," Marinette stopped herself as soon as she realized what Luka did and what _she_ did.

Luka stared at her for a while. He had known of his attraction towards the younger girl, but even he hadn't done anything about it. Marinette was the one who asked him to go to on a date.

"I knew that I had a thing for you the moment I saw you, but I didn't act on it," Marinette looked up at him and saw nothing but adoration in his eyes, "and seeing you now, I know you'll probably make the same mistake I did."

He cocked his head towards the direction of Adrien and she looked over there.

"Take it from me; don't wait. He probably won't either." Adrien was embracing Nino, clapping him on the back to finish a fourth beer.

Determined, and feeling a certain way because of the party or the alcohol, or whatever, Marinette turned to Luka and gave him a full kiss on the lips.

He reacted, slowly pulling away from her. Luka knew that Marinette was scared of her feelings for Adrien, and was just confused.

Marinette didn't look at him, finishing the rest of her drink.

"I guess now wasn't our time, huh?" She turned to him, a small, sad smile on her face.

Luka smiled the same smile at her and shook his head.

Across the couple, Adrien felt his heart sink when the two shared a kiss. He looked away giving them some privacy, and took a full swing of the cheap beer.

* * *

"I don't know if I should be surprised or worried, Kitty."

Ladybug swung towards Chat Noir who had one knee propped up, his leg outstretched.

"Bonjour! How'ree you doing, My Ladyy?"

Ladybug stopped in her tracks, having to do a double take at him. In his hand was a beer bottle and there was another empty one close by.

"Chat, are you drunk?" Ladybug crouched in front of him and he laughed and hiccupped.

"Of courssse I am!" Ladybug slowly took the bottle from him, "I just came from a party."

Ladybug sat next to him, careful that he wasn't close to the edge of the tower. She knew that they were around the same age, but if they went to the same school?

"What happened at the party Chat?" Chat had laid his head in her lap and her hands immediately went to his hair.

"I found out, thaaaat the girl I'm in love with has a boyfriend."

She continued playing with his hair, but felt her hope crush.

Paris for the two unknowing lovers was not kind to them that night.

 **I know the ending for this sucked, but lol I updated!**


	4. Quatre

**In all seriousness and honesty, I usually don't know what a chapter will contain until I'm writing it. I at least know some of the aspects each chapter is supposed to have, I just don't know what it is until I'm typing. I can't say that this is the worst chapter I've written, but it's a little weird. Adrien driving is a present you didn't know you wanted but I gave it to you anyways. You're welcome.**

 **I would also like to take the time to apologize for my lack of updates. I hope this can make up for it? And who knows, maybe I'll have a lot more in store for you guys (; this is what, 3k words total? There's a surprise in this chapter as well! Now enough, enjoy!**

Marinette had to fight Tikki's voice inside her head saying she had to leave Chat on the Eiffel Tower. Tikki reassured her that his kwami would take care of him.

As she swung through Paris' cold night air, she thought of the long hard day.

 _The girl I'm in love with kissed her boyfriend_

Chat's confession of his love hit her hard, and the fact that he was hurt enough to resort to alcohol hit her even harder. The rules had been hammered into her by Tikki that no one was allowed to know her nighttime activities, but she cursed herself because she wanted to know who he was under the mask more than ever now.

He had previously mentioned during the textbook incident that they went to the same school because their class was the only class in Paris (ironically) that used that specific history textbook. Marinette neared her balcony, and she did what she did best when dealing with emotional turmoil: evade it as much as possible.

She jumped through her open trap door and got rid of the transformation, huffing at the thought of her boy troubles.

"Marinette, are you alright?" Tikki flew to her cheek, hugging it in comfort.

The dark haired girl sighed and cupped the little god to her cheek, "Just thinking about all that happened today, is all Tikki."

Tikki looked into her eyes in understanding.

"Two very attractive blond boys running around in your head?"

Marinette opened the trap door and Tikki flew in, embracing the warmth her room exuded.

"Adrien, pshh, I haven't thought of him at all," Marinette remembered the tugging in her heart, the feeling of loss even though she didn't remember losing anything at all, "Yup, not at all." Marinette had moved to her dresser to change into her favorite pajamas, and Tikki hovered near her tiny corner room.

"I'm not going to lie Marinette, what you did to Adrien was especially mean." Tikki frowned at her chosen and the actions she took today.

Marinette looked at herself in her bathroom mirror and began removing her makeup. "Why are you disappointed in me now, Tikki?"

Tikki crossed her tiny arms, still frowning and glowering.

"You knew Adrien had feelings for you, but you still invited Luka to his party to deliberately hurt him."

Tired and guilty, Marinette brushed her teeth and stared at Tikki, waiting for her to elaborate.

"You tend to forget that Adrien is still your friend despite his confession, which I would like to add sounded very genuine."

Marinette spat the minty foam from her mouth to give her kwami a glare. "How can I think he's being genuine when he always has a new girl on his arm faster than he changes outfits, Tikki?"

She took her hair down from her pig tails as she walked towards her bed.

"He flirts with any, and all girls, and I don't think I've _ever_ heard of him going on an actual date!"

"Exactly, Marinette!" Tikki flew in front of her face to give the full effect of her lecture, "Adrien doesn't know how else to talk to girls besides flirting with them! His first _real_ friend was Chloé, and you see the way they act around each other. He acts this way because he assumed that was how guys are with their friends that are girls."

Tikki did have a valid point, but Marinette was still stubborn and kept silent. Taking in her pout and annoyed expression, the kwami decided to end her lecture there.

"I'm not trying to say you're a bad person for rejecting Adrien, Marinette," Tikki said, "I'm just trying to tell you to open your eyes a bit more."

The tiny god flew to her corner of Marinette's sleeping cot, leaving her to carefully think about her last sentence. Tikki couldn't outright tell Marinette that she was actually rejecting her other half because of the rules that chosens are supposed to decide what to do with each other, and that she knew Marinette felt the same pull she feels whenever Plagg is around.

It was just taking her a while to realize that her love was being thrown into her face. In fact, it was taking both of them a while.

Tikki chuckled to herself at the idiocy of the two. The tiny god retreated to her bed as she felt her other half near closer.

After Tikki's lecture, Marinette gathered what little strength she had to go to her balcony. Being Ladybug for the past years has taught her to adore high places.

Climbing out of her trap door, she was not expecting to hear a deep groan of someone lying on her patio chair. She had to fight back a scream, but relaxed slightly when she saw the moonlight reflect off his leather suit.

"Chat? What are you-" she immediately sprung up to check his body for any injuries.

"Désolé ma princesse," Chat slightly opened his eyes, cloudy and unfocused. "I'm not really sure why I'm here, I think, I think Plagg guided me here because it was closest."

Marinette knew that Plagg was the name of his kwami, but thought that he could safely take Chat home.

"He must be running out of energy," Marinette thought out loud as she slung his arm over her shoulders.

"What. . . are you doing?" Despite how fit he was (Marinette had obviously noticed) he was still a little heavy for her to lift and help down her trap door.

"Plagg obviously thinks you can't make the trip home so that's why I'm letting you stay here with me for the night, kitty." She said.

Tikki took that as a cue to turn off all the lights in her room as she tucked Chat's body under her covers.

"Plagg if you can hear me, you can let go of the transformation now, I'm not looking." Marinette covered her eyes, turning away from the blond boy.

A flash of green ripped the transformation from Adrien's body and Plagg was slumped on the boy's chest.

"Thank you, Ladybug."

Marinette almost opened her eyes at the revelation, but remembered that Tikki mentioned they could sense when the other was close.

Tikki flew towards Plagg with a camembert slice and ushered him towards her little corner.

Marinette laid in her bed next to Chat, facing away from him.

When Marinette woke the next morning she tried not to let disappointment cover her features at the absence of Chat in her bed.

After the events of that night, life was relatively normal for the two. Except, it wasn't.

Adrien had done what most wealthy socialites and models had done on their free time. He had finally broke into the true rich playboy the tabloids deemed he was. He was out constantly on the weekends, at parties, getting completely hammered and surrounding himself with _so_ many women. Of course this didn't go unnoticed by Gabriel, but he allowed Adrien to do whatever he pleased so long as it did not interfere with his modeling and other extracurriculars. Gabriel still cared for his sons' wellbeing, so he insisted that at least one person were to accompany him to each party. Ideally, the fashion mogul would have Adrien's designated body guard do his job, but Adrien insisted on Nino.

Marinette evaded her own troubles and feelings, but she, like the rest of Françoise Dupont noticed Adrien's stark change in character. After his party, he and Marinette acted like they barely knew each other. Adrien no longer tried to get Marinette's attention, and Marinette didn't make an effort to try and talk to him. Despite the many questioning looks she received from Nino and Alya, she insisted that there really was nothing wrong, and they were just sorting through the aftermath of what happened. Marinette ignored him and he ignored her.

Something she didn't ignore however was the change in her partner. Chat had asked Ladybug if she could patrol weekends from now on, which she found odd. That was the only time that they would patrol together since they worked out a schedule during the weekdays. She had Mondays and Wednesdays and Chat had Tuesdays and Thursdays. They decided to patrol Fridays and Saturdays together and it was what Marinette looked forward to all week.

She had to bite back the need to ask him why he didn't want to spend time with her, but pushing her own emotions aside, she agreed. Akumas were becoming rare and a bit more difficult to defeat. They were further away which made the team think that Hawkmoth carefully planned his attacks. Their meetings were becoming less frequent and although Marinette was pretty sure it had nothing to do with her, there was this air, this tension that always hung between them that had never been there before.

"At school" Adrien as their group liked to say, changed in the slightest. He, for obvious reasons, had given up pursuing Marinette. It was after the fact that the group of friends realized he was holding back before. Now, it was a natural occurrence to find Adrien and another girl sucking face in a corner of the school. In all honesty, Marinette had no idea to feel about Adrien's change in behavior.

Alya and Nino had taken it upon themselves to constantly guilt trip the girl.

Outside the school, the group of friends hung out after class ended, talking amongst themselves. Nino had his arm draped over Alya and he noticed the glint in her eye before she swiftly changed the conversation.

"So how was the party last night babe? I saw. . . some stuff online about it."

What Alya was referring to was the pictures of Adrien that surfaced online. They weren't necessarily awful, but they sure were something else. A picture of Adrien's shirt halfway unbuttoned and being surrounded by booze and women. In the pictures he was smiling cheekily, the way he would when he was out with _friends._

Nino and Alya eyed Marinette's expression and could see that she averted her gaze and her lips tightened.

"It was fun, but you know how Adrien is now."

Marinette furrowed her brows and huffed. Tikki's lecture about being a bad friend to Adrien came to the front of her mind and she scowled.

Eyeing the sleek black Maserati in front of the school, Marinette recognized it as Adrien's car. She determinedly made her way towards it, hearing Nino tell her that the model _finally_ got the approval to drive.

Before she was able to get her hand close to the door handle, it swung open and on the other side, was a very pissed off Kagami.

Said girl turned to look at Adrien and practically spat, "Oh look, I'm no longer needed here."

Marinette looked apologetically after she left but climbed inside the car.

Adrien's gaze didn't meet hers, only focusing on the car parked in front of him.

"I see you finally learned how to drive and that your dad has let you now." Marinette started awkwardly. Seriously, they had not spoken to each other since the party at his house and that's what she says to him?

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid_

After a few more minutes of silence and Adrien's will to avoid her gaze, he took the car off park and began driving away from the school.

Looking at the sleek car zip through traffic, Alya spoke up.

"When are those two idiots _finally_ going to get together?"

An ugly feeling blossomed inside of Kagami's chest as she passed the unsuspecting couple that watched the black car leave.

It was one thing to realize that she was merely a _replacement_ for a girl that sort of looked like her in a way, and it was another to realize she was just like the other girls Adrien toyed with.

Adrien wasn't sure where he was driving. He just knew that he wanted to get away, as fast as possible. That was the only reason he changed lanes like a maniac through the streets of Paris. If Marinette was scared, she sure didn't show it.

She kept her eyes on him like he held her entire world in his hands.

It was funny. She had his heart in her palms and she had crushed it. His grip tightened on the steering wheel and the gear handle as the strange tightening of his chest began.

"I have to admit, for a beginning driver, you're really good. I see you took more from our lessons than you let on."

Marinette was referring to the many driving lessons she taught Adrien. They had practiced in this same car and only on his driveway, but Marinette was happy to help one of her best friends. Adrien asked Marinette for lessons, even though his father pulled in a favor from a famous French Prix driver. He loved spending time with her and would use all the opportunities he could.

"I lied."

Marinette continued to stare at him with her large blue eyes. The tint of the car made it so that the bright lights of Paris were muffled and that they were having an intimate moment. In that time, Marinette studied Adrien's face. From his tensed brow, his straight nose, and his pink lips that were in a slight scowl.

"I knew how to drive before you taught me." She was adamantly confused but allowed him to continue, "I wanted to spend time with you so I pretended I didn't know how to."

"Oh."

The dark haired girl still stared at him although pink dusted her cheeks.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Adrien mumbled, "what did you want to talk about?"

Marinette put on a brave face and summoned all of her courage as Ladybug. "I've been a shitty friend to you." Adrien felt her gaze fall from his face as she laid her head on the headrest.

"I've been ignoring you and pretending like everything is okay, but I know it's not. You can be angry with me, maybe even," she winced, " _hate_ me and I know I deserve it. I just want to know how you feel, honestly."

Adrien's driving, like his mood had steadied and he breathed out.

"I had feelings for you for a long time Marinette. I mean, I still do have feelings for you. This is just my way of coping, I guess." Adrien finally spared a glance at her so she could see the truth and depth in his eyes as he confessed to her.

"It's not your fault that you didn't realize my feelings were genuine, and it's not your fault that you don't like me in the way I like you. I was upset, that yeah, the girl I've lo-liked, had feelings for, or whatever, didn't like me back so I threw a tantrum. And I guess I still am, I don't know. I just know that the partying and stuff helps me let loose."

His revelation was a mess and he wouldn't be surprised if Marinette didn't understand what he was getting at, because he wasn't sure if he was either.

"I guess what I'm trying to say," Adrien rubbed at the back of his neck, the other still firmly on the wheel, "is that I'm trying to realize is if I should continue to pursue you in hopes that maybe one day you'll return my feelings, or just give up."

Marinette's gaze softened. She understood perfectly where he was coming from. Chat wouldn't even spare her a glance. Marinette may or may not have a teeny tiny crush on the model. She however repressed the hell out of the thought because she insisted that she loved Chat with all her heart, despite not knowing much about his personal life.

"Adrien, I have to tell you the truth. I'm not going to nudge you in any direction because you should make that decision on your own, I have to tell you, there is a boy that I _really_ like."

Adrien rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know about Luka Marinette, I saw you two."

Marinette shook her head, turning towards the window.

"It's not Luka, it's, it's someone else. He's my best friend," she stuttered, "I mean, one of them at least, he's on par with Alya, but you shouldn't tell her that because she doesn't know him.

The blond looked confused. "So, you say that he's your best friend, and Alya doesn't even know who he is? Does he go to a different school or something?"

Marinette scoffed.

"Something like that."

Changing the topic, she leaned towards him, "I'm not telling you this just to throw it on your face, I'm just telling you because I like this guy, maybe even love him. I mean, he's never given me the time of day or anything,-"

"Marinette if he does love you as much as I do then he's a complete idiot."

Tikki and Plagg both rolled their eyes in their respective hiding places.

Adrien stopped the car at a red light and turned to her, "Mari, I'm not going to-"

A thump on top of his sunroof stopped what he was saying and the two internally cursed their luck. He rolled it down halfway to see the point of an épée pointed at the bluenette.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! I am Riposte and I challenge you to a duel for Adrien's hand!"

Adrien rolled down the roof back and stomped on the gas, nearly avoiding the oncoming traffic.

Marinette's instincts spiked and she leaned towards the window and only a second later, the épée stabbed the roof of the car and would have impaled Marinette if she hadn't moved.

"Adrien!"

Adrien's eyes widened as he weaved in and out of traffic once more.

"I'm trying to shake her off, Mari, she's not budging!"

Adrien honked at the person ahead of him and began shaking the expensive car. Marinette looked towards her right and saw that they were almost in front of the Eiffel tower.

In his secret lair, Hawkmoth had decided that issuing Riposte at the time when Adrien was driving the girl was not the best idea. He stayed calm, trusting that Adrien was a competent driver and would not get himself killed. Phillipe said that his boy was a natural driver, and even taught him everything he needed to know.

 _Do not hurt this boy, Riposte. You will regret it if any harm shall come to him._

The purple butterfly marking disappeared and Riposte withdrew her sword and stabbed into the car once more.

Marinette had luckily dodged that as well, pushing her chair backwards, the sword in between her widened legs.

"Adrien, stop shaking the car! I'm going to jump out, okay?" Marinette shrieked.

The blond's eyes widened in alarm, and he yelled, "Are you crazy Marinette? No way-!"

Marinette interrupted him, "Just get as close to the grass as you can without hitting the curb alright? It's going to be fine!"

Adrien felt all his adrenaline rush to his head and his hands, and Riposte ripped her épée from the car once more.

Marinette unlocked her door, knowing that Riposte's blade would come down any second now and yelled, "Now!"

Adrien quickly swerved as close to the curb as he could, and Marinette jumped out, tucking her arms in front of her face and angling away from the vehicle.

She rolled through the grass, only a few inches from the concrete and she thanked her luck that she didn't jump before it was too late.

Adrien's tires screeched loudly as he pulled away from the park.

"Merde!" He cursed as Riposte had jumped backwards no doubt to finish off her opponent, his car spinning out from the momentum.

 _You've had your fun now Riposte, but before you finish your opponent, take Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous'._

Marinette ducked into a corner and unlatched her purse.

"Tikki, quick-!"

"Princess, look out!"

Adrien had successfully tackled Marinette away from Riposte's blade. His green eyes widening and flipping their positions. He cheekily smiled at Marinette before pulling them both up.

"C'mon!" Adrien gripped Marinette's hand in his and they began running together like they did this sort of thing every day.

 **I know, I know and I'm sorry I had to cut it off there, but this piece was at least 3k! I hope you enjoyed it and please give feedback of any kind!**


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